If you form a partnership, you must register it separately with HMRC even if the partners have previously been self employed. If the partners are new to business, they must also register individually. Partnerships are registered with a dedicated HMRC partnership team, based at Longbenton near Newcastle.

For many years, people leaving jobs to become self-employed were advised to instead set up one man companies to provide their services; offering the security of a limited liability company and significant national insurance savings. We offer a brief introduction into IR35.

It is a fundamental part of the self assessment system that responsibility lies with you, the taxpayer, to file tax returns and pay the correct amount of tax, and before the payment deadline - you must not wait for HMRC to ask.

Residence is determined by a number of factors including how many days you spend in the UK, where you work and where you have homes. A person may be resident for tax purposes in more than one country in which case their status may be determined by tax treaties between the two countries.

These tax credits replaced Working Families' Tax Credit, Disabled Person's Tax Credit and Children's Tax Credit and the child-related elements of Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance. These are likely to operate until 2017 for existing claimants.